Jess Kent calls bullshit on society’s expectations of women in ‘Girl’

Since her debut, it seems like JESS KENT‘s mission has been to give some much needed life and vibrance into Australia’s pop scene. Time and time again, she’s done exactly that, subverting what we’ve come to expect from local popstars and doing it with such a charm that it keeps you coming back for more. But now, she’s stepped out with one of her boldest cuts to date in ‘Girl’.

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In a sort of tongue-in-cheek pop style with influences from Lily Allen or Charli XCX, the opening of the first verse of ‘Girl’ shows Kent is cutting directly to the chase – “Tell me, are you in love? / They say that’s the only way you’ll ever be enough.” That sort of biting, unapologetic commentary is rife throughout the entirety of ‘Girl’, with lines like “Sell me like I’m a drug / ‘Coz apparently I’m only here to get you up” and “Here’s to the reality / There’s a target on my identity” really getting Kent’s message across.

But, naturally, Kent sets it over a minimalist but wildly infectious pop beat, which speaks to the message of the song in and of itself. Kent‘s point is loud, clear and correct, but putting it over such neon bubblegum production speaks to how women are expected to be polite and palatable by the masses – regardless of their opinion. In ‘Girl’, Jess Kent completely flips the bird to the expectations placed upon women by a patriarchal society and, frankly, we all need to be flipping the bird alongside her.